Closure for bottles and like containers



March 26, 1957 H. RIGOLOT 2,786,594

CLOSURE FOR BOTTLES AND LIKE CONTAINERS Filed Nov. 50, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet l WNW mm 5 h 8 10' i v 2 & 11 I 6 March 26, 1957 H. RIGOLOT CLOSURE FOR BOTTLES AND LIKE CONTAINERS Filed Nov. 30, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F IG.3,

March 26, 1957 CLOSURE FOR BOTTLES AND LIKE CONTAINERS Filed NOV. 30, 1953 s Sh eets-Sheet 5 iillll/k United States Patent 2,786,594 @LOSURE FOR BQTTLES AND'LIKE CONTAINERS Henri Rigolot, Courbiac-Saintes, France Application November 30, 1953, Serial No. 394,939 Claims priority, application France February 20, 1-953 1 Claim. (Cl. 215-91) This invention relates to a process for sealing bottlescontaining liquids of the kind producing. a gas, pressure and, possibly, a deposit which must be removed beforeshipping. Among such liquids, one may mention Champagne wine, sparkling wines, cider, etc.

For instance, it is known that' Champagne wines must be submitted to several operations and manipulations before being sold to the consumers. First of all, the wine drawn into the bottles will stay in a cellar for a certain period of time; a deposit then forms while the gas pressure increases. It is therefore necessaryrto; eliminate this deposit through a step called extraction step, further to which the final stopper is placed;

Practically, the bottle will first be sealed with acork stopper which is inserted by means of a special machine and held with a fastener secured to acollar formed in the neck of the bottle with the purpose of reacting; against the gas formed. For extraction operation, the fastener is removed by means of pincers and the cork is removed with the hand. This step requires special caution in order that the removal of the foam and the deposit may not cause losses of wine. Beside the difficulties in manipulation which require specialized operators, the process involves the following drawbacks.

The cork of the stopper will grow hard in the long run and as the tightness is no longer ensured, the bottle can no longer retain the pressure. Moreover, it may give the wine a taste ofv cork. Finally, when the. cork is taken off, the latter often. breaks at the level of the head, which requires the portion left in the neck to be removed, whence a loss of time and liquid. Anyways, this cork will be lost.

This invention has for its object a new process and device obviating these drawbacks, which allow for ready manipulations, ensure complete tightness at any time, avoid the risk of rupture of the cork in the extraction step and make it possible to use again the draught stopper.

The process according to the invention consists in using, in combination with a bottle of the usual type intended to contain a sparkling drink, the neck of which is formed with a collar in the proximity of the upper portion, a stopper which is also provided with a plurality of very particular fittings.

Generally speaking, devices for stopping bottles and similar containers are already known, said devices comprising a stopping portion and a head integral therewith, made of a plastic material, the stopping part being hollow and formed somewhat in the shape of a cone in the upper part. More particularly, means have already been proposed to facilitate the insertion of the stopping part in the container, said means consisting of vertical slots formed in said stopping part.

A first fitting according to the invention is intended to complete the structure of the stopping part, said structure to ensure maximum resiliency, for the insertion thereof in the container as well as for its adhesion with Patented Mar. 26, 1957 'ice of the device consists in forming the inner part of the stopper with ribs and grooves between them, atleast over a certain height, the relative sizes of the latter being such that the grooves cover a substantially greater area than the ribs. This design has the result of increasing the flexibility of said hollow part which allows the stopping. part-to fill exactly the opening: of the container, by applying to the inner surface, despite the defects thereof. This arrangementallows said stopping partto avoidpuckering and thus ensure tightness of the stopping.

According to a further characteristic, the stopping portion that comprises the grooves is substantially cylindrical, while the portion that has no groove is substantially tapering downwardly and has vertical: slots. This portion will be preferably the fourth part of the total height of the stopper. The latter also comprises, at its lower part, clips which apply to the inner surface of the container under the pressure which may be exerted, for instance, by analcohol containing liquid at certain temperatures, cooperating thus in ensuring the tightness of the stopper.

Finally, according toa third characteristic of a stopper of thiskind', the head=is formed with a flange which overlaps the upper portion of theneckto the upper edge of said collar and is so designed as to fa'cilitate'holding in place of the fastening means.

Finally, the invention involves special; means for extracting. the stopper, more particularly pincers allowing for a gradual and controlled extraction of the stopper avoiding losses of liquid. The final stopper or shipping stopper will be of the same type. i

The invention willbe better understood from the following description with reference to, the attached drawings in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a semi-elevation and vertical semicross' section view of the result obtained by carrying out the stopping process on an embodiment of the stopper.

Figs. 2 and 3 are similar views with different: embodiments'of the stopper.

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section along IVIV of Fig. 5 showing in detail an embodimentof a stopper according to the invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section view of VV of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 shows: a device in position on: a bottle, in the case of askirt overlapping important height of the neck.

Fig. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the stopper of the invention.-

In the drawings, 1 isthe neck of a bottle adapted to contain, for instance, champagne Wine, formed in its upper portion with a flange 2 of a. noticeable thickness. The process according to the invention consists in inserting. in said neck a stopper, indicated by the general reference numeral 3, said stopper being made of one piece of plastic material and formed with a body which constitutes the hollow stopping. portion 4- and a head- 5. The hollow stopping portion 4', in this embodiment, has vertical slots 6 at its lower portion, while the head 5 has, on the periphery, a collar 7 extending over the upper edge 8 of the neck to the proximity of the flange 2. Said stopper, :after being inserted with the hand, for instance, by means of a small hammer, the introduction being facilitated by the clips 6' determined by the slots 6, is held in position by a fastener 9 which, in this embodiment, comprises a horizontal arm 10 and two Vertical arms 10. The extremities of the arms 10' are curved at 11 over the flange 2, while the middle part of said arms presses the collar 7 against the neck 8. The horizontal arm 10 bears on the upper surface 10 of the stopper and, in this embodiment, this surface has a projecting part in the shape of a cupola 12 so that the arm 10 of the fastener, when it is tightened, drives into said part 12 which prevents the fastener'from sliding on the stopper and come off from the bottle. Finally, the lateral part of the head has ribs 13 which facilitate insertion and extraction thereof, more particularly with the help of the pincers to be hereinafter described.

On Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, the same parts are shown with the same reference numerals. The difierences lie in the structure of the upper part of the head 5. On Fig. 2, zone 12 which is cupola shaped,'has been replaced by a cord 14 which forms a circular projecting part the purpose of which is the same as that of cupola 12. On Fig. 3, the head has been recessed in a cavity 15 which is engaged by a curved portion 16 of the arm of the fastener. Said curved portion bears against two walls of the cavity 15, namely the flat lower face 17 and the round oblique face 18. In this way, the fastener is held in position by means of the arm 16 in the cavity and presses the head 5, not only through the arms 10 hearing on the collar 7 against the outside of the extremity 8 of the neck, but also through pressure of the arm 16 against the face 18 bearing on the zone 19 of the stopper against the inner part of the neck 8.-

This stopping process, with fastener and collar head, ensures complete tightness of the stopping, while the aforementioned fittings of the stopping portion ensures a tightness which increases with the pressure of the gas contained in the bottle.

Referring now to Figs. 4 to 6, one sees that the device comprises, in the known manner, a head 20 and a stopping part 21. Said stopping part comprises over about three quarters of its height, vertical grooves 22 separated by ribs 23, the grooves being substantially wider than the ribs. On the fourth quarter of its height, the stopping part is slightly tapered in 24 and its wall grows thinner downwardly.

Said portion 24 comprises slots 25 practically all over its height. Said slots thus determine clips 26 which, as shown on Fig. 6, apply closely against the neck 27 of the bottle under the action of the pressure that may be exerted on it.

Also, on Fig. 6, there has been illustrated a skirt 28 which may be of variable height according to the container and the product contained. In some cases, it may be advantageous to set the skirt on a threading of the neck of the container, the stopper forming in this way an ordinary screw cap. In this case, the washers that are usually provided with this kind of cap, becomes of no use, as the tightness is ensured by the nature itself of the device. 'The threading of the neck may also have cuttings to prevent unscrewing, which makes it possible to obtain an inviol able closure, unscrewing of the stopper being rendered impossible as long as the guarantee wrapper has not been removed.

As the stopper is made of plastic material, it does not risk hardening or giving a bad taste of cork to the wine and it can therefore be still used for shipping.

On Fig. 7, there is shown a particular embodiment of the invention for the closing of a bottle for shipping.

In this case, the stopper 38 has no collar, but only a stopping portion 39 and, in the particular case which has been illustrated, a head to hold a wire net which can rest also all round the lower part of the flange. This stopper ensures a perfect tightness, and, in opposition to the champagne cork stoppers used so far, it may be put on the bottle again as it is being used up.

Finally, as regards the fastener, to carry out the process it can be either entirely independent, as shown, or integral with the head of the stopper by being incorporated in the latter during the moulding operation. Of course, this fastener includes any number of arms.

The process may also be carried out with types of stoppers different from those shown on Figs. 1 to 6 and 7, these embodiments being given merely by way of example and not by way of limitation. More particularly, the arrangements of said stoppers, namely the notches in the stopping portion and the collar of the head, may or not be combined and provided on any type of plastic material stopper. Finally, a synthetic resin of the polyethylene type may be advantageously used as a plastic material to form the stopper, but any other resin having the same properties may be used.

Finally, the invention is not restricted to the device for stopping bottles, but may be applied to any other container. Moreover, one might contemplate putting on the head and/or on the skirt the indications regarding the trademark of the product as well as the advertising.

What I claim is:

A closure for bottles and like containers having a neck terminating in a discharge month, said closure being formed of a molded synthetic elastomeric plastic and comprising a hollow tubular body receivable in the neck of the container and a head integral with said tubular body, said head being of greater width than said body to overlie the rim of the container mouth and being formed with an external recess for reception of a fastener for engaging the container rim for positively securing the closure in the container neck, said body having a major portion adjacent said head provided interiorly with a plurality of longitudinally-extending circumferentially spaced-apart ribs defining longitudinally-extending recesses therebetween, a plurality of said ribs being circumferentially spaced-apart between diametrically opposite points of said major portion, the external diameter of said major portion being substantially uniform, and said body having a minor end portion merging with the major portion having an external diameter which is gradually reduced in the direction away from said head, said minor portion being free from said ribs and being formed with a plurality of notches extending axially inwardly from the free end of said portion toward said major portion but terminating short of said longitudinally-extending ribs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 672,862 Smith Apr. 23, 1901 2,266,270 Roth Dec. 16, 1941 2,526,225 Gronemeyer Oct. 17, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 390,471 Great Britain Apr. 6, 1933 539,891 Great Britain Sept. 26, 1941 

